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Sunday, July 15, 2012

Catherine Bailey has been enjoying the single life long enough to know a catch when she sees one. Gorgeous, charismatic and spontaneous, Lee seems almost too perfect to be true. And her friends clearly agree, as each in turn falls under his spell.

But what begins as flattering attentiveness and passionate sex turns into raging jealousy, and Catherine soon learns there is a darker side to Lee. His increasingly erratic, controlling behaviour becomes frightening, but no one believes her when she shares her fears. Increasingly isolated and driven into the darkest corner of her world, a desperate Catherine plans a meticulous escape.

Four years later, Lee is behind bars and Catherine—now Cathy—compulsively checks the locks and doors in her apartment, trusting no one. But when an attractive upstairs neighbour, Stuart, comes into her life, Cathy dares to hope that happiness and love may still be possible . . . until she receives a phone call informing her of Lee’s impending release. Soon after, Cathy thinks she catches a glimpse of the former best friend who testified against her in the trial; she begins to return home to find objects subtly rearranged in her apartment, one of Lee’s old tricks. Convinced she is back in her former lover’s sights, Cathy prepares to wrestle with the demons of her past for the last time.

Utterly convincing in its portrayal of obsession, Into the Darkest corner is an ingeniously structured and plotted tour de force of suspense that marks the arrival of a major new talent.

PRAISE FOR INTO THE DARKEST CORNER:

“A sexy psychological thriller…. Anyone looking for a suspenseful read this summer at the beach, pick up Into the Darkest Corner.”— John Searles, Weekend Today Show

“Gripping psychological thriller. . . . Haynes puts the reader into Bailey’s mind and the result is a grim, dark and extremely difficult story. The feelings of isolation and helplessness ooze off the page. . . A compelling first novel.”— Associated Press

“Check the locks on your doors and windows and surrender to this obsessive thriller.”— Karin Slaughter, author of Fallen

“A chilling page-turner.”— Booklist

“This intense, gripping account of domestic violence and its aftermath is utterly unputdownable. A stunning debut.”— S.J. Watson, author of Before I Go to Sleep

ELIZABETH HAYNES is a police intelligence analyst. She started writing fiction in 2006 with the annual challenge of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and the encouragement of the creative writing courses at West Dean College. She lives in a village near Maidstone, Kent, with her husband and son. To learn more about Elizabeth, visit her "bio" on her website HERE.

A GUEST REVIEW and MY COMMENTS:

Thanks once again to Larry DeLeon who recently reviewed BLOODLINE for my blog and is always welcome here. In fact, Larry and his family were in town visiting when he literally read the book in one night and then reviewed it. The book then got snatched up by his wife, son, and friend who also read it that quickly and shared his enthusiasm about it. I have to say, I did not read it in one night only because I read a few books at once but did finish it the next day. It also grabbed me right away and I thoroughly enjoyed every chilling part of this page turner. I hope they make it into a movie! Larry DeLeon lives in North Carolina with his wife, and if you remember, their great dog, Hoover. In fact, I think Hoover is the only one in that gang who didn't grab this book and read it in one sitting. Enjoy Larry's Review...and thanks as always, Larry!

This book is a thriller that starts out as a portrait of someone with an extreme case of OCD. The drama build so slowly that you are lulled into just listening to someone in two different stages of their life. For a time I found myself asking "Is this really a thriller?" It takes a while for the horror to unfold, but when they do, things begin to ratchet up quickly. Author Elizabeth Haynes has created a character in Cathy Bailey that is kind of the flip side of Brigitte Jones' Diary, the one that has a truly horrible experience rather than just a series of romantic misadventures. Once things start to go bad, they go really bad for Cathy.

INTO THE DARKEST CORNER was a unique read to me. If there's a lot of this kind of British working girl confessional, I haven't read it, so to me it was fresh. I found it captivating, intriguing and wonderfully horrible. I'd say it's for the femme audience that likes thrillers, but I think men will like it too if they can get past the chick lit flavor of the early going. If you're looking for something a little out of the ordinary, this might be your book.

It reminds me of Sleeping with the Enemy and shows that some people have two sides that you don't always see in the beginng. Please enter me in contest. I am a follower and email subscriber. Tore923@aol.com

I actually came across this one at the store not too long ago and was so tempted to buy it even though it wasn't in the budget. But alas, I couldn't at the time and I have been hoping to win myself a copy ever since. I love suspense and I love dark relationship stories so this is definitely on my to read list!

Thanks to all!

Sadly, we will be saying good bye to Bookin' With Bingo early next month. Things just have been too hectic so we have chosen to close down with hopes for a new "BWB" someday. Thanks to all and KEEP READING!